Dominguez handles grounders better than grammar

Houston Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez bare-hands a ground ball by Pittsburgh Pirates' Russell Martin in the fourth inning of the baseball game on Friday, May 17, 2013, in Pittsburgh. Martin was safe at first with a single. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Houston Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez bare-hands a ground...

I laughed earlier this week when Astros manager Bo Porter said of third baseman Matt Dominguez, "The guy is growing up in front of our eyes."

For more than a decade, I shared the same office with Fernando Dominguez. Matt literally did grow up in front of his eyes.

Fernando is a sports copy editor at the Los Angeles Times. He also is Matt's father.

Through Fernando, I followed Matt's progress from his youth league All-Stars to his play at third base for an outstanding Southern California high school team to his selection as a first-round draft choice by the Marlins.

But I didn't meet him until a couple of weeks ago before a game at Minute Maid Park.

I wanted to know why he hadn't followed in his father's footsteps as a newspaperman.

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Matt, 23, is shy and soft-spoken. But he laughed, explaining how he and the second of Fernando's two sons, Jason, 28, were so bewildered by grammar and punctuation they would argue over who would take his English paper first for Fernando to edit.

"We knew it was going to add two hours to our homework," Matt said.

Fernando said Matt forgot to mention neither son brought him his paper until the night before it was due.

"I used to ask why they didn't just wake me up at 6 the next morning if they really wanted to torture me,'' he said.

One other reason Matt might have chosen baseball - as did Jason, a former seventh-round Astros draft choice who advanced as far as high Class A in Lancaster, Calif. - was the money.

I don't know how much Fernando makes. It probably isn't the $492,000 Matt makes.

I intended to do this column soon after I spoke with Matt.

Firmly entrenched

When the season began, Porter said the lineup was so fluid he would automatically write in only one name on the lineup card. Jose Altuve. Less than a quarter into the season, Porter had added another automatic. Dominguez.

"He's the best defensive third baseman in all of baseball,'' Porter said.

Porter jinxed the column, not to mention Dominguez.

Dominguez, who had committed one error in the season's first five weeks, committed three in one game a few nights later.

He hasn't committed an error since. But that game underscored Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow's contention that Dominguez, to guarantee a long major league career at a corner position, would have to hit - and hit with power.

Two nights after his worst defensive game, Dominguez hit two home runs off Texas' Yu Darvish, who came within an out of throwing a perfect game against the Astros earlier in the season.

Dominguez has since hit two more home runs, including one in a victory over Kansas City in which he also showed off his range, footwork and instincts by starting a highlight-reel double play. Those games eventually earn you more than $492,000.

He also has 21 RBIs, second on the team to Chris Carter. Although his batting average is .245, he hit .303 in the first two weeks of May.

No one is comparing him to Miguel Cabrera with a bat. But he has potential to improve.

"Coming into the year, we all knew what he could do defensively,'' said Porter, who was a coach with the Marlins when they drafted Dominguez with the 12th overall pick in 2007.

"But now we're starting to see a guy who's swinging a confident bat.''

His father, Fernando, said he always considered Matt a good hitter, especially at Chatsworth (Calif.) High School, where Mike Moustakas played shortstop.

Luhnow said it was the best-hitting high school team he ever scouted. The second overall choice by Kansas City in '07, Moustakas starts at third for the Royals.

"He started tinkering with his stance,'' Fernando said of Matt, adding he began to get situated when working with Oklahoma City hitting coach Leon Roberts after the Marlins sent Dominguez to the Astros last year in the Carlos Lee deal.

He was, however, always consistent with his glove. That is a result, Matt said, of competing with two older brothers for ground balls their father hit to them in the backyard.

Fernando also gives their mother, Cindy, credit for her work with the boys.

She's quite a catch(er)

She and Fernando met when he went to see one of his sister's softball games. Cindy was the catcher and, with apologies to Geena Davis, was in a league of her own.

She didn't give up the mitt with marriage. Fernando estimates she caught thousands of balls from her sons. Their oldest, Danny, also played baseball after high school, at a local community college.

Cindy watches most of every Astros game on their cable package, taping them for Fernando.

After the three-error game, Fernando sent a text to Matt that said, "This game never happened.''